During a semiconductor fabrication process semiconductor die are formed on a wafer by processing including photolithography, deposition, implantation and etching. The wafer is a substrate generally formed of a semiconductor, such as silicon or gallium arsenide. After the fabrication process is completed and before the wafer is singulated into die (or chips), the wafer has functional tests to verify their electrical performance within a design specification. Conventionally, a test head of a test apparatus for die probing usually mounts a probe card with a plurality of probe needles or other contact members for contacting with probe pads (bond pads or bumps) on the die. The probe card provides electrical connections for interfacing between the test apparatus and the device (die) under test (DUT).
A probe card includes a probe card board (e.g. printed circuit board (PCB)) with a hollow center having a plurality of probe card needle tips that emerge from the center, extending downward, and are arranged to contact the probe pads on the die to be probed. One probe arrangement is an epoxy card PCB with a ring assembly. The ring assembly is built by placing preformed probes into a plastic template. Holes corresponding to the pattern of the bond pads of the die to be tested are punched into the template. A ceramic or anodized aluminum ring is epoxied to the probes. The ring and epoxy are configured to hold the probes in their proper orientation permanently.